Synagogue Burned Down by ‘hooligans’ in Soviet Provincial City

June 18, 1962

LONDON (Jun. 17)

A synagogue at Mikha Tskhakaya, a Soviet town in western Georgia, near the Black Sea, was burned down as a result of a fire deliberately started by “hooligans,” according to information reaching here today from Moscow. The synagogue was totally destroyed.

Mikha Tskhakaya is a city of 22,000 population, big enough by provincial standards to contain a sizable Jewish community. Soviet authorities were reported investigating the origin of the fire which took place on May 1, the most important national holiday in the entire Soviet Union. Thus far, there is no information as to whether anyone has been arrested.